All Time Low - Put Up or Shut Up (2006)
It must've been the summer of 2006 with my older sister that I discovered this EP in her car (the same one that we'd blare "Cupid's Chokehold (Breakfast in America)" by Gym Class Heroes out the windows late at night, to date this even further) via her zippered CD case which held a hundred or so CDs of albums from bands that time would quickly forget, like Dashboard Confessional and Jack's Mannequin, and I saw the front cover of this EP, and for some reason, I'm guessing due to the color scheme and general artwork of the cover, I was drawn to it. We listened to it, along with other CDs that my sister would blare in the car (mainly "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" by Panic! at the Disco) and then when I'd want a copy, she'd tell me they were "too explicit" for me, which I have no fucking idea why she'd even be showing them to me, in that case. Ignorant. Anyhow, I don't remember liking this EP very much back then, probably because I was still in a "anything that isn't Less Than Jake is shit" phase, but honestly, this EP, even though I didn't remember any of the songs off of it, it really takes me back!
This EP (mainly full of re-recorded versions of songs from "The Party Scene") was made before they had the squeaky-clean they have nowadays (or at least the last time that I checked) and has this bit of raw flavor to it, which really adds to the whole "we're a few teenagers who listen to too much blink-182, Fall Out Boy and New Found Glory" vibe of the music, which to say that it's pretty far from perfect but admittedly enjoyable for what it is, which is fine, because it never really tries to pretend to be anything other than a pop-punk band for you to quote on your MySpace profile right next to your profile photo. There's just something so innocent about this music that really takes you back to hot, sunny summer days of 2006 and the stuff you'd blare out of your shitty car stereo with the windows down because "that's what the cool kids do, it's awesome" even though you're annoying the fucking shit out of everyone else on the road. All of these songs are catchy and pretty decent overall (aside from the shitty "Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Acoustic Remix)" which is fuckin' CAKED in autotune) especially if you're into that whole "here are some songs about teenage relationships that fucking suck" (aside from "Lullabies" about the suicide of vocalist Alex Gaskarth's brother) kinda thing, so it's worth a listen, if anything, to give you flashbacks to hanging out at Starbucks over a decade ago (fuck, that hurt to type) with your friends, who all happen to be wearing beanies and glasses, with their long, straightened hair covering their ears. Seriously, that look is just SO fucking 2006, holy shit.
7/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
